Tag Archives: collage

A darling little ice storm hit Toronto on December 22nd, leaving about 300,000 homes without electricity for the holiday season. We chose to stay in our very cold house for two and a half days until the power came back on, and were definitely among the lucky ones, since as of this morning, there are a few hundred people still cold and in the dark. To mark this most unusual holiday season, here’s a project born in a matchbox, a true essential during a power outage.

Matchboox, which inspired this project, is a collection of small books folded accordion style, and neatly housed inside a matchbox. It’s a series created by editor Richard Meier, involving more than 70 artists, making some very cool art in a box.

Hope your Halloween night was fantastic! I’m guessing by now your little ones have eagerly examined their candy stash, taken inventory, and are slowly eating their way through it. Here are a couple of ideas from the past to help you make use of your Halloween garbage:

Back in August, I made an erosion bundle which spent close to two months braving the elements outside in my garden. Not sure what an erosion bundle is? Have a look at this post to get a clearer picture.

When I finally went out to collect it, my biggest fear was finding it filled with potato bugs and worms, sucking back those juicy orange slices I included. Turns out it was bug free, and had morphed from a colourful collection of random things, to something you might find in a landfill site. The oranges had decomposed, plenty of stains were now on the fabric and paper, but some things simply hadn’t changed at all. More perishables and more time would have created better results, but there was still plenty to work with for making a Halloween sign and a collage.

Torn paper collages are made using small pieces of paper which are glued onto a surface to create an image. In this case we’ll be making portraits using old magazines, which will provide the colourful palette you’ll need. You can also go black and white by using newspapers. The image children select for inspiration will help with some basic direction in colours, composition and proportions, but they shouldn’t expect to duplicate it. It’s simply to provide a starting point, which they can then take in any direction.

With so many gorgeous greeting cards to choose from today, it may take something really special like Japanese paper to motivate you to make your own. Everything about these papers is inspiring, like their texture, patterns, colours and visible fibres. And if children can use a glue stick, they’re old enough to make these wonderful collages.

Trick-or-treaters beware. There are dentists out there proposing that you spend several hours in the cold collecting candy, and willingly trade it in for a paltry amount of cash. Your candy will then be sent off to support troops overseas. The purpose? According to Dr. Berdahl, it’s “a great way to prevent cavities and support the troops.” This is mean, mean, mean on all fronts. Unless I’m missing something, is off-loading candy onto troops a good idea for their teeth? And isn’t pigging out on candy a childhood right of passage? Let’s just learn to brush our teeth properly, shall we, and get on with the fun.

The thought of giving colourful candy wrappers a second life really appeals to children. It gives them a wonderful and permanent way of proudly displaying what they collected and indulged in on Halloween, a time when my dentist actually gives out candy. Bless his soul.

Texture is the feel or appearance of a surface or a substance. It may be the soft fur on your cat, the rough feel of a carpet, or the slimy liver you’re having for dinner. Everything has a texture, and just about anything can be used to create it. This project is all about stretching children’s imaginations by allowing them to explore different textures, using a variety of materials.